CLNC® SUCCESS STORY
Ugly Duckling to Golden Goose – How I Conquered My Fear
by Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC
EDITOR'S NOTE: Congratulations to the 2003 CLNC® Success Story contest winners Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC and Denise Lemakos, RN, CLNC. In this issue read Larry's funny and inspiring CLNC® Success Story. Denise's CLNC® Success Story – an amazing story of triumph and accomplishment – appeared in Legal Nurse Consulting Ezine #7.
Two years ago I was a registered nurse with 26 years of experience. I liked my job as a night tour nursing supervisor, but I was suffering from what I call "professional bradycardia." After taking Vickie's CLNC® 6-Day Certification Seminar, I immediately knew my professional and personal life were about to change.
I had tried other part-time activities in addition to my full-time nursing career. I was a licensed real estate salesperson, a soil and site evaluator, an Amway distributor, a part-time farmer growing sweet corn on my dad's farm. I even sent away for a program on how to buy real estate with little or no money down. But I finally found my niche as a CLNC®.
Fear Was My Stumbling Block
However, as a new CLNC® I faced a huge stumbling block that initially held me back. I'm sharing my experience so that maybe the obstacle I tripped over time and time again will not be a stumbling block for others. That stumbling block was FEAR, pure unadulterated FEAR.
I am 6-foot 2-inches tall, two hundred and some-odd pounds, and for the first time I found myself confronting professional fear. So I did what any reasonable and prudent new CLNC® would do. I procrastinated!
Oh, I dove right in from day one, setting up my office in my basement, complete with used office furniture, fax machine, multiple phone lines, including an 800 number. I went out and purchased a brand new computer and one of those dot-com address things and posted my website on the Internet, SpectrumMedicalLegal.com. Boy, was I proud of that!
I went through Vickie's Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting® again and again, 30 minutes each day. I joined two LNC listservs and subscribed to a host of nursing journals. I started compiling an electronic medical-legal library which I thought was second to none. I went to libraries and book sales and purchased used medical and legal textbooks, carefully displaying them on the walls in my new basement office. I even went so far as to purchase and study from cover to cover the main text, workbooks and audiocassette tapes on torts used in law schools today.
I also created a letter agreement, just like Tom Ziemba said, to use for all my anticipated cases. Next came the business card, complete with matching stationery. I tweaked that card and stationery layout for hours on end until they were "just right." Then came my marketing package, including a cover letter, brochure and even an audiocassette tape. I tweaked those over and over until they were "just right" as well. Those marketing packets were good, really good. But you know what? I didn't send them out to attorneys.
"But wait a minute," I said to myself six months later, "I still have NO CASES. What's wrong with this picture?" Then it dawned on me: IT WAS FEAR...FEAR of actually getting that first case.
I Tried Marketing with My Fingers Crossed
I put my foot down. I finally sent out seven, count them seven, marketing packets. You'll never guess what happened. Two law firms called, and they both wanted to meet with me. Now I thought to myself, "I am in BIG TROUBLE."
I met with attorney #1, and he told me, all the real work on the case was done; it just needed to be tabbed and paginated. I walked away from that one and said, "Thank God, at least I didn't get an actual case to work on."
Attorney #2 had told me on the phone that her case involved a person with a physical disability being treated unfairly by an employer. I set up a date to meet with attorney #2 and did what any novice CLNC® would do prior to that all-important first meeting. I researched the disability and how it could be accommodated in the workplace according to cutting-edge, authoritative reports in journals and textbooks. I placed this information in my briefcase and gave it to attorney #2 when I met her. She looked through the information and said, "Thank you, this is just what I needed." Then she shook my hand, and that was the end of the meeting.
Now I remember Vickie saying, "Give attorneys what they want and one thing more." The problem was, how did I know, novice that I was, that I'd handed the attorney that "one thing more" up front and thus got no compensation on that case. I chalked my loss up to experience and said, once again, "Thank God, at least I didn't get an actual case to work on." I left attorney #2's office empty-handed.
Still having no cases under my CLNC® belt, I started marketing a product to attorneys across the nation, an idea I had gleaned from Vickie. Several weeks later I started receiving checks in the mail. This was great – go to the mailbox, get the money, send out the product. But now I felt guilty. Here I was, marketing a product to attorneys, and I still did not have a case.
Then I Tried Marketing for Real
I put my foot down again, this time really hard, and sent out seven more marketing packets. Wouldn't you know it, one of the law firms called me. I met with that attorney, and he gave me the case, the chart, the "whole enchilada."
FEAR turned into PANIC as I thought, "Now what am I going to do?" Delving into the chart at home, I created a chronology, got a real feel for the case, took notes and put into practice what I learned from Vickie nearly a year-and-a-half ago. And guess what? Writing the report was fun, which surprised me, since I had always thought that would be one of the most difficult tasks.
By the way, here's a tip on getting paid by attorneys: Get your money up front. That's Vickie's tip not mine, and it works. When that first attorney-client asked about my fee, I told him what I charged and stated that I get my fee up front. He looked at me, paused, then opened his checkbook and wrote me a check. I left with both chart and check in hand.
A month later when I handed him his report, I did include that "one thing more." But this time I got it right, and he was pleased. In fact, that day he gave me case #2, and without my asking, out came his checkbook and he said to me, "I know Larry, you get your money up front." "Wow," I thought, "I trained that attorney well," as I left his office with chart and check in hand. Since then, he has given me case #3 and, yes, his checkbook automatically opened up before I left his office.
Your Nursing Skills and Credentials Are for Real
As nurses we often underestimate our abilities, especially if we're doing something new to us, like legal nurse consulting. Don't underestimate your abilities as I did. With your nursing training and experience, coupled with Vickie's knowledge, guidance and learning materials, believe me, you will succeed.
Imagine getting paid for work you absolutely love to do. It's almost like stealing – well, almost. All of Vickie's CLNC®s have a powerful, marketable product to offer. We all have our CLNC® credential. Don't ever forget that. Remember the saying, "You have nothing to FEAR but FEAR itself." It took me one-and-a-half years to realize that concept. Don't let that happen to you. Just go out there and "Do It," do your best and follow Vickie's plan.
Vickie Is for Real
I will close with this true story about Vickie herself. I know it's true because I was there. On day five of our CLNC® training, our group of approximately 300 students circulated and signed a thank-you card which read something like this:
Dear Vickie, you took all of us Ugly Ducklings and turned us into Golden Geese.
One student presented the card to Vickie on stage, which was a surprise to her. As Vickie began to read the card, she welled up and for several moments she could not speak. When she did speak, her voice began to quiver – she was visibly moved by that simple card. That's when I knew Vickie truly cares about all her Ducklings and Golden Geese.
Thank you, Vickie, and your fine organization for "awakening my potential and the nurse within me." And thank you, Vickie, for being you.
Lawrence H. Frace, RN, CLNC, is an independent legal nurse consultant specializing in medical malpractice cases. Larry is the founder of Spectrum Medical-Legal Consulting in New Jersey.
